Cotton drier for cottoning machines



April 24, 1962 E. E. LAKSO ETAL COTTON DRIER FOR COTTONING MACHINESFiled April 17, 1961 INVENTORS LAKSO EINO E. AUSTIN S. CHANDLER ATTORNEYUnited States Patent lice 3,031,556 COTTON DRIER FOR COTTONING MACHHNESEino E. Lakso and Austin S. Chandler, Fitchhurg, Mass,

assignors to The Lakso Company Incorporated, Fitchburg, Mass., acorporation of Massachusetts Filed Apr. 17, 1961, Ser. No. 103,627

2 Claims. (Cl. 219-19) In the packaging of small articles particularlyin the pharmaceutical industry, cotton wads cut from coils areautomatically tucked into the open ends of the filled containers justbefore the cap is applied to the container, the cotton essentiallyfilling the neck of the container in order to hold the contents, such astablets, substantially immovable to prevent damage.

This cotton contains a certain amount of moisture, for instance in theneighborhood of from fiveto eight percent,

' and of course when the cap is placed on the container this moisture istrapped inside and in some cases will cause a deleterious action on thecontents.

It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a simpleand effective means for drying the cotton and it has been found that themoisture can be reduced to as low as one percent so that damage to thecontainer contents is avoided.

Further objects of the invention include the provision of a cottondrying device which may be easily applied and attached to an existingcottoning machine adjacent the wadding mechanism so that the cotton isdried just prior to its application to the containers as aforesaid andwill pick up a minimum of moisture from the atmosphere between thedrying operation and the insertion of the cotton wads into theindividual containers.

It has been found that generally conventional means for drying requireheat enough so that when the machine stops for any reason, such asstarvation of the line of containers arranged on a conveyor leading intothe cottoning apparatus, the residual heat is intense enough to char andeven burn the cotton; and it is another object of the present inventionto provide a heating means for drying the cotton, which heating means iseffective substantially instantaneously to cease to emit heat when themachine shuts oif, i.e., when the bottles stop advancing to thecottoning device; and on the other hand the heat just as instantaneouslyreaches a maximum upon the re-starting of the machine when the bottlesonce again start moving along to the cottoning device; and the provisionof heating means in the form of infra-red quartz lamps mounted in a newand improved arrangement and container through which the cotton passesto the cottoning apparatus and including an On and Off switch which iscontrolled by the containers themselves as they move along toward thecottoner, such switch having an actuator extending into very closeproximity to the point of cottoning and being of a nature such that whencontainers are present the heat is applied to the cotton which is movingthrough the drying apparatus but instantly upon the absence of bottlespassing the switch actuator, the switch is turned off, the cottoningstops, and the infra-red quartz lamps instantaneously collapse insofaras the heat is concerned; but upon the containers once again startingup, the switch is actuated to rc-energize the machine and the heatsubstantially instantaneously reaches a maximum to provide for therequisite drying of the cotton as it once more is fed through the drierto the cottoning machine.

The invention further relates to arrangements and combinations of partswhich will be hereinafter described and more particularly set forth inthe appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

3,031,556 I Patented Apr. 24, 1962 FIG. 1 is a perspective front view ofthe cottoning machine to which the drier is applied;

FIG. 2 shows the drying apparatus in open position to illustrate thesame, and

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the operation of the switch.

The drier of the present invention can be utilized with any cottoning orwadding machine such machines being well known in the art. In generaleach one comprises, mounted on asuitable framework, guides for instanceas shown at 10 which lead the cotton in a substantially endless coilform as indicated at 12, to the measuring cutoff and wadding apparatus,this apparatus being well known in the art and in general including forinstance a cutoff knife 14, a reciprocating rod at 16 which stuffs thecutofi length of cotton wadding into the neck of the advancing bottles18 which are guided along a guide rail 20 as by a conveyor 22. Anysuitable means may be utilized for drawing the cotton as for instance tothe right in intermittent steps in FIG. 1 in order to correctly positionit at the place located, and such means as well as the wadding rod 16,the cutoff knife 14, etc. are suitably driven by cams, etc. (not shown)in the proper timed relation to each other.

There is an On and Off control switch 23 which is operated by anelongated light-weight lever 24 in the nature of a feeler. When thisfeeler (see FIG. 3) does not sense bottles, it drops, and the entiremachine including the electrically energized cotton drying apparatus, isshut olf; but as soon as bottles again lift the feeler 24, the maincircuit will be energized to energize the electric cotton dryingmechanism as well as the cottoning mechanism. There is also a manuallyoperated On and CE switch 26.

The cotton drying mechanism per se is conveniently located as close tothe point where the cotton will be stuffed into the containers as ispossible, and may comprise for instance a lower container generallyindicated at 28, this having a bottom wall 30 over which the cotton isadapted to be drawn about suitable guides, etc. from a container 32. Thecontainer 28 includes end and side walls, the cotton entering throughone end wall and exiting through the other end wall, passing thence tothe guides 10 and from there to the cottoning apparatus brieflydescribed above.

Conveniently mounted as for instance on a hinge or the like, thecontainer 28 (including the bottom end walls and side walls), isprovided with a cover member 34 which may have a handle to convenientlyopen the same. This cover member is provided with two elongated seriesof infra-red quartz lamps, each of which is generally indicated at 36.These lamps are mounted in aluminum ceramic lampholders and arecommercially available from the Miskella Infra-Red Company of Cleveland,Ohio. As stated, the lamps are electrically energized and turn on andoff with the switch 23 actuated by feeler 24.

The principal characteristic of these infra-red quartz lamps is thatheat is immediately projected upon energization thereof and this heat atonce dries the cotton as for instance from a seven or eight percent ofmoisture down to a one or two percent of moisture as the cotton exitsfrom the drier. It is also a very important characteristic of thepresent invention that the quartz lamps immediately cool and fail toproject any heat as soon as the current is turned off.

The advantage of the infra-red quartz lamps is therefore that the cottonin the drier will not be scorched or burned when the machine stops dueto a starvation of the line of bottles or for any other reason whichactuates the switch 23. Immediately upon such stoppage, the lamps go outand the heat is substantially instantaneously withdrawn, so that thecotton is not injured; but on the other herein disclosed, otherwise thanas set hand, immediately the machine starts up again, the heat ispresent and dries the cotton to a uniform degree, regardless of thestopping and starting of the machine.

Therefore itwill be seen that the objects of the invention have beencarried out and there is thus provided a relatively simple but effectivemeans for drying the cotton without any damage thereto during periods ofidleness of the machine as would be the case were electric resistanceunits to be utilized in the drying operation.

Having thus described our invention and the advantages thereof, we donot wish to be limited to the details forth in the claims, but what weclaim is: a

1. A cottoning -machine comprising in combination a conveyor fortraveling containers along a predetermined path, a cottoning deviceadapted to cut and wad cotton 'in said containers at a predeterminedpoint, operating means for the conveyor and device, an On and Off switchhaving an actuator located in the path of said containers, said switchde-energizing the operating means to stop the same when there are nocontainers present and being adapted to once more energize the operatingmeans when the containers impinge upon the switch actuator, with asubstantially instantaneous heating and cotton drying means including anenclosure, 21 series of instantaneously operating heat lamps, arrangedtherein and in circuit with said switch so that the heat of the lampscollapses immediately upon the tripping of the switch actuator tode-energize the operating means.

2. The cottoning machine of claim 1 wherein the lamps are infra-redquartz ceramic heat lamps.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSThompson May 25, 1954 Miskella i July 22, 1958 heat 2 Doyle May 19,'1953

